Kaido Always Fell from the Sky

As one of the last groups of pirates to leave, the Roger Pirates' ship was also pursued by the Marines. However, the Marines were focusing most of their efforts on completely destroying God Valley.

This island had to be reduced to ashes. That was Imu's highest order, so Roger and his crew had not needed much effort to shake off the Marines' pursuit.

Although Imu was a particularly troublesome rule-based monster, over the long years, he had also developed an indifferent attitude toward the facts.

As long as Joy Boy and Davy D. Jones were not involved, Imu would leave almost everything to others.

In some matters, he even displayed a peculiar generosity—or rather, complete indifference. For instance, after Garp attacked the Five Elders, he was still promoted as a Marine hero through propaganda.

Roger was not on Imu's radar at the moment. Once Rocks' "death" had been confirmed, Imu ended his descent mode and returned to Mary Geoise.

Nereus, flying alone through the sky, was no different. It did not take him long to leave the range of God Valley.

Having left ahead of the others, Babel and his group had long since broken through the encirclement. They were now sailing across the sea, and Nereus caught up with them before long.

"Big Brother, how did things go over there?"

Babel, who was steering the ship, casually asked about the situation at God Valley. Even though he had left early, he had seen just how massive the commotion there had been.

Babel now deeply realized that his big brother had been right. With destruction on that scale, if he had remained on the island, he might not have been able to escape.

"From now on, you probably won't hear the names God Valley or Rocks ever again. The World Government will spare no effort in erasing every trace that they ever existed."

"Is that so? That really fits their way of doing things. Then again, how could they possibly admit to something like this?"

After so many years at sea, Babel knew exactly what the World Government was like. Setting everything else aside, the Void Century that remained blank in history was enough to explain it all.

But to the others aboard the ship, those words meant something else entirely.

"Um... benefactor, what should we do from now on?"

"You? I have two choices. One is to find a safe island where you can disembark, and after that, everyone can take their own path."

During his past voyages, aside from rescuing slaves, Nereus had also helped merchant ships that had suffered wrecks. On these perilous seas, shipwrecks occurred far more frequently than in ordinary worlds.

Especially on the Grand Line, where unpredictable weather often caused ships to sink. For those who had somewhere to go, this was usually how he handled things.

After all, Nereus' group was not a passenger ship. They would not keep carrying these people forever.

"Then... what is the other choice?"

"I have another island. It's somewhat far from here, but it's safe enough. If you want, you can live on that island."

That island was located in the New World, near the Calm Belt. With the Calm Belt surrounding it as well, it counted as a peaceful haven on the sea.

Many of the slaves Nereus rescued had nowhere to go. Their hometowns had long since been destroyed, and they had nowhere else to return to.

If they acted alone on the sea, they risked being captured again.

Nereus did not leave those people to fend for themselves. He settled them on that island instead.

"If you live on the island, you must follow its rules. Because of the surrounding waters, leaving the island is also rather difficult. You can take your time considering it."

At those words, whispers began to spread across the ship.

The difficulty of leaving the island was not really a problem for people of these seas. The main reason was that every island essentially faced the same issue.

The Grand Line's unique environment meant that islands rarely interacted with one another. Two neighboring islands could even possess completely different traits of civilization; an ancient island and Egghead Island becoming neighbors was not impossible.

Even in the relatively stable Four Blues, most residents never went out to sea. Even when fishing, they only worked near the shore. Many people never left the island where they lived for their entire lives.

Dangerous sea conditions, the possibility of pirates, the cost of long-distance tickets, and many other factors had created this situation.

Only those with special professions, or those who went to sea with ambitions of their own, frequently embarked on long voyages.

Moving to another island would not have much of an impact. What they were more curious about was what sort of order Nereus' island had.

Those who had once been slaves were the first to make up their minds, deciding to follow Nereus to the island he had mentioned.

Most of God Valley's residents made the same choice. A small number still hesitated, but seeing the choices of the others, they quickly made up their minds as well.

At that moment, a huge figure flickered in and out among the clouds overhead. Looking closely, one would discover that it was a giant dragon.

The dragon also spotted the warship below, then dove down as though it had found prey.

"Worororo, a lone warship. I'm hungry at just the right time... Is that Babel?"

The dragon was naturally Kaido. After eating a Devil Fruit, Kaido had chosen to leave God Valley by flying.

After fighting on the island, he had not suffered any injuries, but his stomach was empty. He had just happened to spot this warship.

To Kaido, a warship was, to some extent, the same as a cafeteria.

Back when he had first become wanted, whenever he got hungry, Kaido would deliberately let himself be captured. Once locked inside a prison ship, he would break free of his chains and escape, leaving only after filling his stomach.

Just as he planned to repeat the same routine this time, he spotted someone he knew aboard the ship.

Kaido naturally was not afraid of Babel, but under normal circumstances, Nereus should have been nearby at a time like this.

"So he really is here..."

Kaido soon spotted Nereus on the bridge, but he did not turn back. Instead, he landed steadily on the deck.

"Kaido?"

"Nereus, I didn't expect to see you again here. We really are fated.

How about joining me to do something big? I want to build a pirate crew where might makes right, where absolute strength decides everything!"

Kaido temporarily put his hunger out of mind and instead extended an invitation to Nereus.

"Kaido, if everything is decided by strength according to your logic, then if I join you, wouldn't you have to listen to me?"

Rather than rejecting him outright, Nereus questioned Kaido from another angle.

"Uh..."

"Come to think of it, you broke things in my tavern before. Haven't you still not paid for them?"

"This..."

"And there's also..."

"Wait! Nereus! A Marine has snuck onto this ship! Let me take him out!"